1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dielectric elastomer driving mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
In certain applications, dielectric elastomer driving mechanisms are used for actuating following elements (“followers”) by the driving force of a driving source. Examples of such driving mechanisms include robot arms of robots utilized in the field of industrial manufacturing, electric artificial arms, and the like. An electric motor is a typical example of the driving source used widely. JP-A-2015-37713 discloses a conventional electric artificial arm in which an electric motor is used as the driving source.
Specifically, the conventional artificial arm disclosed in JP-A-2015-37713 includes a plurality of following elements (having an articulated structure for actuating similarly to the fingers of a human body) and a plurality of electric motors for moving the following elements. In addition, the conventional arm includes a mechanical device such as a link mechanism to convert the rotational driving forces of the electric motors to e.g. reciprocatory movement for actuating the following elements. By controlling the rotation of each individual electric motor, the following elements can be actuated independently so as to simulate the movement of real fingers.
However, the above-mentioned mechanical device for rotation-to-reciprocation conversion is made up of various components, thereby having a complicate structure. Also, if the electric motors are disposed close to the following elements simulating fingers, the weight of a portion corresponding to the human hand will increase. Moreover, in order to ensure a neutral point of a following element, a mechanism is needed that causes two electric motors to rotate simultaneously but in opposite directions, thereby balancing out their driving forces. Such a mechanism, however, tends to generate excessive heat and to result in the decreased efficiency of the device as a whole.